The West Springfield Little League American Majors (11-12 year olds) All-Star baseball team enjoyed an outstanding postseason run this summer which saw them capture the District 9 title and qualify for the Virginia state tournament.

West Springfield finally saw its season end earlier this week when it lost to Tuckahoe of Richmond, 13-3, in a state playoff affair. At the state tournament, West Springfield had lost its opener to the Southwestern Youth Association (SYA) East All-Stars of Centreville before bouncing back strong with a 6-2 victory over a team from Lynchburg. But, against Tuckahoe, the locals could not sustain the momentum from that prior game win and were eliminated.

But West Springfield gave its fan base a thrilling several weeks of baseball. Many of the team’s players were part of last year’s West Springfield 10-11 All-Stars which captured the District 9 crown. This summer, at the Majors’ Division, West Springfield once again finished first at districts.

“That experience [last year] is what made us stronger,” said Majors Manager Carlos Quinteros, of his team’s playoff experience from2009. “The boys knew what the expectations were and how hard it takes to win. We seemed to put things together at the right time.”

THE MAJORS’ biggest test at the 10-team District 9 tournament came in its fourth overall game - its first game in the round of four bracket play portion of the tournament - against Fort Hunt. West Springfield had won all three of its pool play games to earn a seeding in the final four. It took nine innings, but West Springfield finally prevailed against a talented Fort Hunt squad, 3-2. The game ended in the bottom of the ninth inning when the West Springfield infield turned a clutch, 4-6-3 double play to give Quinteros’ team the title.

“That game was one of the toughest tests we had,” said Quinteros. “Fort Hunt came ready to play.”

The West Springfield skipper said his team’s hitting, such a key factor in the district tournament success, cooled off at the state tournament.

“We just went flat at the wrong time,” he said. “We left the bases loaded three times in the loss to Tuckahoe.”

West Springfield had been in the game against Tuckahoe most of the way - staying within striking distance at 3-1 early and 7-3 later on before the Richmond-area team broke the game open with six runs.

“It was pretty tough,” said Quinteros, of his team getting eliminated. “There were some sad faces and teary eyes.”

Quinteros loved the make-up of his cohesive Majors’ squad.

“We had great chemistry as a team,” he said. “We had different kids step up at any time we needed them. We were the defending champs from last year and it seemed like we had a target on our back. But they responded well.”

Members of this year’s West Springfield American Majors’ All-Stars were: Colin Brechwald, Justin Cone, Ryan Mahoney, Logan Miller, Michael Morgan, Ryan Mullins, Timmy Newell, Sammy Quinteros, Sam Smith, Thomas Susa and Alex Wright. Carlos Quinteros was the West Springfield Manager and Kevin Cone was an assistant coach.